7 schools to remain open due to good performance

April 3, 2012 6:19:57 AM PDT

Eyewitness News

NEW YORK --

Seven New York City schools that were ordered to close down will now remain over after improved performance.

"Every child in New York City deserves a top-quality school," Chancellor Dennis Walcott said. "When we began this process, we proposed closing and replacing these seven schools where we had seen some improvement, but where the pace of change was not quick enough for our students. After careful consideration, including school visits from my leadership team, we have come to believe that these schools have strong enough foundations to improve - and today, I have decided that we will not move forward with proposals to close and replace these seven. We will also withdraw applications for the federal Turnaround model in these schools, which have already shown significant promise. We will continue to support these schools in their growth and submit a new improvement plan to the State."